Exploring the cultural and organizational barriers faced by women engineers in the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico

This article explores the perceived barriers faced by female engineers working in the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. The study aimed to examine the cultural, structural, and organizational barriers associated with women’s participation, retention, and professional development on offshore platforms. The research was conducted through a survey administered to 72 female engineers who graduated from the Autonomous University of Carmen and work in the offshore industry. A quantitative approach using Likert scale was used to assess dimensions of organizational culture, access to opportunities, working conditions, leadership, work-life balance, and professional development and training. The results suggest that the most significant perceived barriers were related to the presence of sexist attitudes in the workplace, difficulties accessing operational positions, the perceived need to demonstrate competence to gain professional recognition, the long working hours associated with offshore rotation systems, and the perception that women do not contribute to innovation within their work teams. Participants also reported perceptions consistent with the persistence of gender stereotypes that may be associated with fewer opportunities for professional development. Analysis of the associations between items suggests that these barriers may be interrelated, particularly among organizational culture, access to operational roles, professional recognition, and development opportunities. These findings suggest a gap between perceived formal equality and substantive inclusion. However, due to the exploratory and cross-sectional nature of the study, these results should be interpreted as perceptions and associations observed in the analyzed sample.